Today, many SUV models are available in the Chinese market, which was actually initiated by Chery Tiggo, the first SUV model of Chery launched in 2005, kicking off the era of Chinese SUV brands. In 10 years of time, it has made many achievements. Sold to more than 80 countries and regions, the total sales volume has exceeded 1 million units, creating wonderful fame among users. Till today, Tiggo has always been the No. 1 exported Chinese SUV brand.
After the 4 generations, Tiggo has seen its 5th-generation model, the New Tiggo 3 in the Chery Strategy 2.0 Era. What changes can be seen in Tiggo 3? Let’s see how the classic SUV has evolved.
1st-generation Tiggo 3 – the 1st Chinese SUV model
On March 22, 2005, Tiggo was launched in Beijing, kicking off the 10-year history of Tiggo till today, which became the sole city SUV of Chinese brand at that time. Its birth also marked the start of Chery changing its brand image.
In its early stage, Tiggo adopted the stylish and dynamic design in a bold and innovative way. It employed 2.0L and 2.4L naturally aspirated engine equipped with 5MT transmission. As the first Chinese SUV model, Tiggo attracted great attention from industry insiders and consumers in design, performance and price, etc. More importantly, its performance won greater recognition after its launch into the market. Positioned as a city SUV for leisure, it quickly became a very popular model among all Chinese SUV models.
2nd-generation Tiggo 3 – Tiggo 2009
After the new-generation Tiggo 3 was launched into the market, the Chinese SUV pioneer has been marching forward robustly. After 2-year efforts, Chery launched Tiggo 2009, the 2nd-generation Tiggo 3 of Chery in 2008. The new generation offered more choices in powertrain. Adopting 1.6L, 1.8L and 2.0L engines, it provided 4AMT transmission. The new engine helped Tiggo considerably improve its fuel economy. At the same time, the AT transmission ensured Tiggo was welcomed by more users.
In the same year, Tiggo DR European version was launched in the market, which reached EU standards and became the first Chinese SUV in European market. In 2010, Tiggo Master and Tiggo Elite were launched in the market. Tiggo series experienced evolution of three models, namely, Tiggo Classics, Tiggo DR Europe and Tiggo Elite
It is worth noting that Tiggo has won a lot of Chinese and overseas recognition in recent years. In 2006, Tiggo became the escort vehicle for national flag-raising ceremony. In the same year, it was launched in Italy, winning more than 50 European certifications such as WVTA, marking its entry into EU market. In 2008, 39 Tiggo premium escort vehicles were seen in 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2009, Tiggo became the sole designated official vehicle of Sudirman Cup competition. In the same year, it became the sole designated official vehicle of China Masters and China Open. Its fame and branding have been considerably improved, with its consumer awareness greatly upgraded.
3rd-generation Tiggo 3 – Tiggo 2012
In 2012, Tiggo embraced greater changes. Abandoning the round and lovely appearance seen in the previous models, the new generation had brand-new head. At the same time, interior trim adopted new designs, making the model more urban. At the same time, Chery Tiggo 2012 was equipped with CVT with independent intellectual property rights. This was the first time for a Chinese mainstream SUV model to be equipped with CVT, bringing the drive & ride comfort and sexiness unmatched by traditional AT models. At the same time, it ended the long-term monopoly by joint-venture SUV models in market segment of CVT while bringing more choices for consumers.
The premium DVVT+CVT powertrain in Tiggo 2012 was developed in 8 years, costing several billions yuan and winning 41 invention patents. The prominent advantages of 1.6DVVT engine, featured by high power and torque, and low fuel consumption, low emission and low maintenance cost, have placed the engine in the Top 10 Engines in China. Even more, the 6.7L composite fuel consumption/100km has also placed 1.6DVVT MT model into the catalog of energy-saving vehicles in the Program of Energy-saving Products for Benefit of People (Batch No. 8). Tiggo 3 was also the first and sole SUV that enjoyed energy-saving subsidy in the Chinese market at that time.
In 2012, Chery Tiggo Fleet was established, which started to run in COC in 2013 and won 2 championships in a row. It has become a powerful and young fleet on the COC field, which helps more consumers see the exceptional offroad performance of Tiggo models.
4th-generation Tiggo 3 – Tiggo 3 2014
The new Tiggo 3 was launched in 2014. Compared with previous models, the new one had greater changes in appearance, making it look more like a modern city SUV. The body adopted more angular design elements, making the appearance look younger and more stylish. Besides, it maintained the lovely hanging tyre structure.
Compared with the previous Tiggo 3 models, Tiggo 3 in 2014 improved its interior trim in design, materials and assembly techniques. At the same time, its configurations were greatly upgraded, such as the multi-functional genuine leather steering wheel, and the LED screen on the dashboard in particular. Besides, thanks to the “sense quality” philosophy and control system, and the Masterbuck & Cubing testing methods of Chery, the Tiggo 3 quality sense also presented a new record. The sheet metal techniques and coating quality revealed higher level of techniques.
The new Tiggo 3 was mainly equipped with 1.6L DVVT engine, together with 5MT transmission and CVT transmission. It had better composite performance in power, fuel economy and control. As the most mature and reliable model of Chery after years of market experience, the wonderful sales performance of the new Tiggo 3 proved it was a successful generation replacement.
In 2015, Tiggo celebrated its 10th anniversary. In August of that year, the global sales volume exceeded 1 million units, which was the greatest gift for the 10th anniversary of Tiggo. Tiggo 3 made the highest record of sales for a single model of Chinese brands. It also ranked No. 1 in the JDpower 2015 List of Quality Performance of Small SUV Models, proving its mature quality and reliability. For this, Chery also launched the Tiggo 3 Millionth Commemoration model.
5th-generation Tiggo 3
This year, Tiggo has embraced a major upgrading in its life cycle. New Tiggo 3, the upgraded model, maintains the family features of Tiggo.
As a classic product that has a history of 10 years with more than 1 million users, the 5th-generation New Tiggo 3 received 183 items of upgrading in 12 categories. Its appearance has received detail upgrading catering to young users. And brand-new design has been made in the interior trim, which greatly improves quality and performance. The Life in Motion philosophy is adopted in Chery 2.0 system. And the Cloudrive 2.0 system has made the model younger and more stylish. The real-time vehicle status monitoring and one-button remote control bring more tech contents to the model.
At the same time, the standard configurations of New Tiggo 3 also include ESP, cruise control, multi-functional steering wheel, turn lighting assist, braking assist, HHC and overspeed alert, making it more competitive among competitors.
